


I sleep better with you around

by Wilvarin



Series: Adorable Blueberries [6]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Nightmares, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27484828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wilvarin/pseuds/Wilvarin
Summary: Tumblr writing prompt: "I sleep better with you around."
Relationships: Female Imperial Agent/Male Smuggler, Rel/Essie
Series: Adorable Blueberries [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2008360
Kudos: 3





	I sleep better with you around

**Author's Note:**

> Re'luniss belongs to mimabeann

Dreams.

They always came unbidden and they always hit him hard. Re'luniss didn't want to admit it but his late-night reading and working were - at least partly - a subtle attempt to delay the moment of falling asleep, to exhaust himself to the point he could be sure no dreams would come. Come and turn into another nightmare.  
Faces of the soldiers - wounded and dying, scorched with the plasma and crippled with explosions - danced in front of his eyes in a mad vortex, sucking him in deeper and deeper in the nightmare. "Why? Why didn't you help me?" He flinched. "You could've done something! You _should've_ done something!" Screams, and explosions, and the sound of blaster fire - muffled, but still very distinct, and faces - always, every single time - horrified and pleading faces of the dying soldiers in the endless torturing whirlwind around him.   
At first, he tried to reason with those ghosts - to beg and explain, to point out he was doing his best. But the small nagging voice at the back of his head was there that very instant. "Were you? Were you, really? You should've tried harder! Do something else! Figure something out!" Now he just stood there, squeezing his eyes shut, hoping it all will end, hoping to finally wake up.  
Something soft and warm brushed across his chest, and he blinked, turning, to see what it was. Essie was standing there, holding his hand in hers and smiling at him.   
And just like that, the vortex of the faces subdued, and the sounds of the battle died out. Wordlessly smiling, the young woman closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. The scenery around him changed rapidly, saturating with the gentle and comforting light and bringing the acute feeling of peace and happiness. Rel hugged her back, burying his face in Essie's hair and breathing in their floral scent, and closed his eyes.  
*********

Blinking, Rel shook his head, staring at the ceiling. Essie scooted closer, hugging him and nuzzling his chest. "Bad dreams?" she asked sleepily.   
"Not anymore," he whispered, holding her close and threading his fingers through her hair. "I sleep better when you're around."


End file.
